News about our knowledge of the brain and behavior
from Anthony Risser, Ph.D.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Chemotherapy and Neuropsychological Functioning

From yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Lost in cancer's fog 'Chemobrain' impairs thinking, memory after chemotherapy; anecdotal brain effects are just starting to get serious study

By JOHN FAUBER01 September 2007Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

[snip]

In two small groups of testicular and breast cancer patients, between 60% and 70% of the patients experienced some cognitive decline that was tied to the onset of their chemotherapy, said Christina Meyers, a professor and chief of neuropsychology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

"It's subtle," she said. "We are not talking about dementia or anything grossly obvious."

Within one year, about half of the patients were back to their pretreatment levels of cognitive ability, Meyers said.